When a Superhero Learns to Fly
by inmcc
Summary: When Percy Jackson first witnesses the blonde girl's talent, he simply cannot believe what just took place before his eyes. But never could he imagine that he'd find himself playing alongside Annabeth Chase, the setter he'd long ago forgotten all about. Cross posted at AO3. Find me as ne-sii on Tumblr to post any questions or simply hear more about the inspiration for this story!
1. Prologue: Turning Pain into Power

"One touch!" Sirena screamed, as the middle blocker ran to get into position after barely saving them from losing the set – again. They'd been pushing their luck for the past nine points.

"I got it!" Annabeth shouted back, readying her pass. If only her spikers were ready to hit the ball already… But of course that, after having lost two sets already, none of the girls was as eager to fight their way through as they would usually be.

That being said, Annabeth shifted mid-air, from pass to spike, and connected her right hand to the ball at full speed, scoring miraculously. At least, she thought, this'll buy us some more time. But Annabeth already knew, by then, that they were bound to lose.

She was not aware, however, of the boy, sitting on the stands, open mouthed at her over the top talent.

* * *

"I don't get why I have to watch the _girls'_ regionals…" Percy complained to his coach for what must've been the hundredth time. He'd much rather spend his time practicing his _own_ volleyball skills. Or, if he ought to, stay home and enjoy his Netflix subscription.

"Because I say so." Chiron was about done with his prodigy student's complains. Percy might be the best spiker he'd trained in a long while, but he sure had a lot to learn about life outside the court. "Now get in the car or I'll have to put you off the team for disobedience."

Long story, short: that's how Percy found himself sitting on a public high school gym, on a Saturday morning.

He knew Chiron brought him on these expeditions because he truly cared for Percy, who had been the lead spiker on his team ever since Chiron had found him playing on the streets when he was only eight years old. But he failed to see how either of them could benefit from a girl's match. For starters, girl's matches had different rules from boy's matches. But even if Percy turned a blind eye on that, it wasn't like they'd find any other prodigies out there. All New York players worth mentioning were already at Prestige, Percy's very own school.

The thirteen year old boy couldn't have been more wrong.

Chiron had been eyeing Annabeth for over two months now, and suddenly, his dedication to this particular player had shown itself rewarding. Even Percy was impressed.

"How?" Percy demanded, trying to replay the girl's movement in his mind. The way he'd seen it, she'd turned at the very last moment and spiked the ball down so naturally you'd have thought she'd planned the movement all along. But she couldn't have, he told himself. Even he, trained at the best of schools, could not have pulled such a trick.

"Despair." Was Chiron's simple answer.

"Eh?"

Percy, having spent most of his life without finding a worthy opponent, had never felt the mild panic that drives a player at the end of a game, as he or she tries to score just _one more point_.

No, Percy would not understand that. But before Chiron could explain any further, the referee blew his whistle loudly and the game was over.

The girl's team had lost, disappointing the young boy deeply. Percy was hoping to get to see this girl play again, or even just for a few minutes longer. But now that the season was over for them, the blonde girl would be transitioning to some High School only the gods knew where.

And so it was.

Resigning to the idea that he'd never see the skilled setter again, Percy forgot all about the impossible spike and the mysterious blonde. In fact, nearly three years went by before he would remember what he saw that day.


	2. Two And a Half Years Later

Leaving New York was probably the best decision ever.

Finding it impossible to deal with her step-mother any longer, Annabeth fled home to a boarding school in Boston, where at least she got to see her cousin Magnus. The girl missed Thalia, of course, but it was the twenty first century, after all. Phones and emails had been invented for these situations.

Aside from her best friend, what Annabeth missed the most was playing volleyball. She remembered the team when she'd first met them – just a few girls throwing the ball up in the air and expecting it would make it to the other side of the net. But after three years had passed, and Annabeth graduated from Middle School, she was proud of her team. Proud of how they'd grown strong under her lead and happy that most of them promised to keep playing.

She just wished she had been able to promise back.

"Why did you stop playing?"

Annabeth nearly jumped out of her feet. She'd been distractedly walking to the convenience store on a hot summer day, when she turned a corner and suddenly there was a fine looking man, blocking her way.

"I… huh… what?"

The first thought that crossed Annabeth's mind was "Run!" but, for some reason, the question the fine looking man had made did not quite fit in. For some reason, Annabeth's brain told her it might be interesting to stay, and if there was something the blonde girl could not fight was curiosity.

"I was wondering why you stopped playing volleyball, Ms. Chase." The sound of her name made something click, allowing Annabeth to put the pieces together. She'd heard the man say her name before.

"You're that guy," She said, not minding her words for once. "The one that congratulated me on our first winning in-"

"Eight grade? Yes. And my name's Chiron, by the way." Chiron, whomever he was, seemed rather impatient, as though he'd already waited long enough. "But you still haven't answered my question."

"I can't afford to." Annabeth confessed. "If I play I won't have as much time to study, and if my grades fall-"

"You lose your scholarship." Honestly, Annabeth thought, if the man had all the answers, why bother asking. In fact, why was he there at all?

"What if I were to offer you a solution?" Annabeth nodded, telling Chiron she was all ears. "Come to my school in New York."

"No way." She was starting to see what this was all about. "I don't know what my father promised you, but I'm _not_ going back home."

The girl made her intentions of walking past Chiron quite clear, but the man spoke up again before she was out of earshot.

"I'm one of the volleyball coaches from Prestige Private School, the-"

"Best sporting school in New York." Annabeth finished, astonished. She knew Prestige, of course. Though she'd never had the chance to play against their team, she'd seen a few of their matches, and they were beyond good. No other team in New York ever stood a chance against them.

Chiron smiled knowingly, aware that he'd finally caught Annabeth's attention.

"So would you be willing to hear me out now?"

In the end, promise-free, Annabeth agreed to visit Prestige as soon as the school year was over.

Tenth grade ended in style for Perseus Jackson. He was dating the hottest red head in school, his team had won the Regionals again and he was awarded Best High School Spiker in New York. The only thing that could have made Percy's life even more perfect was if Chiron found them an actual setter. It had been years since they'd had a decent one.

Little did Percy know that he was about to get what he wished for.

"Practicing again?" Rachel complained, when Percy informed her he wouldn't be spending the afternoon with her. "But it's our first day of holidays!"

"Hey, I don't complain when you spend hours painting!" Percy replied, stopping for a quick kiss on her forehead.

"That's not fair." She said, watching him grab stuff from all over his bedroom and shoving it into his sports bag. "Art urges cannot be controlled but you can play whenever you want."

"Well, right now, _all_ I want to do want to is play." He pointed out, matter of factly, before he flew past a disappointed Rachel.

Today was going to be a good day of practice, Percy could tell, once he entered the gym. The wide court just gave off that feeling. As usual, he was the first one there and, as usual, he took the chance to practice his serves.

Percy liked to serve, it was all about hitting the ball will all you had – much like spiking. He did not, however, like it so much when Leo came and threw himself at the ball, defending Percy's spike perfectly.

"Damned prodigies." He muttered.

"You're no good." Leo teased, sending the ball back to Percy. "You'll never get past me if you don't use some effects."

"Good thing you're on my team, then." Percy replied, throwing yet another serve that Leo returned with ease.

Percy and Leo had always had an unstable relationship. While they got along alright out of the court, Leo would often get under Percy's skin during their practices. But then again, a libero _was_ a spiker's natural enemy.

Distracted as he was, momentarily hating Leo, Percy noticed too late the volleyball flying over his head and towards the gym opened doors, where Chiron and a blonde beautiful girl stood. Before either of the players could warn them of oncoming ball, though, the girl ran forward, her hands up in the air just in time for her fingers to catch the ball soundlessly; a wide smile forming across her face.

The toss was a perfect arch. Even from afar, the girl managed to set the ball right where Percy liked it, just a few inches away from the net. Unable to fight the urge, Percy jumped up and spiked the ball straight down, where it hit Leo's face.

"Dude!" Leo mumbled, from the other side of the court. But Percy wasn't listening. He was staring, open mouthed at the girl before him.

She had the curliest hair, cut straight by her shoulders. And her eyes, gods, Percy had never seen such strange eyes. They're grey, was his first thought, but then, as he walked closer, he realised they were just the oddest shade of green.

"That's some tossing." He told the girl. "Prestige-worthy."

"Indeed, Mr. Jackson." Chiron agreed. "I was just telling her that she _must_ set for us, but she just won't believe me."

"Oh." Percy said, understanding. The girl must've been here for visiting, much like he'd been so many years ago. "I didn't know the girls needed a setter."

In fact, he was sure they didn't. Piper, the girls' High School setter and captain, was close friends with him and very talented. Though he had to admit, she had never performed such a toss.

"They don't." Chiron said. "Ms. Chase is playing for the boy's team."


	3. Out of Luck

Annabeth and Mr. Jackson, as Chiron had put him, both gave the older man the same look of disbelief before the dark haired boy blurted out, "What?!" in a slightly high pitched voice that hinted off his late blooming.

"It's as you heard, Percy." The coach said, as though he'd expected that exact same reaction all along. "Ms. Chase is your new setter. In fact, since you two will be spending a lot of time together from now on, why don't you show her the dressing rooms? I am, after all, late for practice."

Annabeth didn't see how Chiron was late – there were barely any boys in the gym – but she was more concerned with the part where he said she and the Jackson guy would be spending a lot of time together.

"But- but-" The dark haired boy struggled with his own thoughts and it took him several moments to finally come up with a full sentence. "But she can't play for us!"

"Why not?!" This time, Annabeth spoke in unison with her coach, even if their tone was very different. While Chiron only seemed half-interested in what his Spiker had to say, Annabeth felt perhaps a little too offended. Not that she was particularly pleased with playing alongside a group of teenage boys, boiling with hormones. But if there was one thing the girl could not accept, was anyone telling her what or what not to do.

"Well because that's why there's a girls' team!" Percy kept venturing. "So bad things don't happen! What's to say we won't accidently hurt her?"

"What's to say I won't hurt _you_?" Annabeth hadn't really thought her words through before she spoke her mind – mean, the boy _was_ at least a head taller than her, and she _was_ five-six. Still, there was something about him and his I-want-it-I-have-it attitude that drove her to fight the unknown boy.

"As if."

"Perseus Jackson!" Chiron began. He too seemed to have taken enough of Percy's crying. "If you are uncomfortable with Ms. Chase's presence on the team, I invite you to leave at once. But I will _not_ tolerate you questioning my decisions."

Percy stared at his coach in awe and Annabeth quickly assumed this was the first time he'd heard Chiron shout at him. She did not, however, feel the smallest amount of guilt – she'd have screamed at the boy herself if she'd thought herself able to cause such impact.

"Now, if you will, please, Percy, go and show Ms. Chase the dress rooms." The way Chiron spoke sounded almost like an apology, still, he did not look straight into Percy's eyes.

"That's alright, I can see them myself." Annabeth said, before adding. "Oh, and, I've made my mind, _Professor_. I'll play for Prestige."

* * *

That was officially the _worst_ practice ever.

After Annabeth came back from the dressing rooms, most of the other players had arrived, late as they always were during the summer. And by then, Leo had already described the amazing toss time and time again to whomever was listening. Much to Percy's annoyance, none of the other boys seemed particularly annoyed by Annabeth's presence. If anything, they looked quite eager to see her play the next day. So, Percy drove himself home cursing each and every car that went by.

"Had a good time sweetie?" His mother asked when he let himself fall on one of the kitchen chairs, still soaked in sweat. But Percy wasn't listening.

"Who does she think she is, saying she'll play for Prestige? She hasn't even gone through trials yet." He thought aloud. "And what are the others thinking?! Surely they only wanted her on the team because she's pretty."

"I most certainly hope you're not talking about Rachel." His mother intervened, surprised to see Percy moody after practice. As a general rule, Percy was _always_ happy when he got to play with his team.

"Who?" He asked, absentminded.

"Rachel, Percy. Your _girlfriend._ "

"What? No." He replied quickly. "Why would I be talking about her? It's that pretentious blonde that's worrying me."

By then, his mother was beginning to worry about Percy's behaviour. It wasn't like Percy to just go around and call other people pretentious, not to mention his reaction to Rachel's name.

"Percy," Sally called out. "Tell me what happened."

And Percy told her. He described the perfect toss, and the imperfect attitude. He even made Annabeth sound a lot ruder than she actually had, just so his mother would give him some credit. But in the end, Sally waved the problem off.

"You're just jealous to have someone as good as you on the team," His mother said, relieved nothing serious had happened. "And right now you don't have time to be jealous. You have to repeat French."

"I what?" Definitely this was not being a good day for Percy Jackson. First, a _girl_ comes to the team. Now his mother had gone nuts.

"You're doing French over the summer." Sally repeated patiently and handed him a letter that had been sealed with the official Prestige stamp on top. "Or else you'll lose your scholarship."

"But I passed French!" Percy complained, not bothering to read the letter. It'd probably take him ages to get through it anyway, what with his dyslexia and all. "I had a C!"

"Yes, same as last year. You promised you'd get a B this year, remember?"

Damn it, Percy cursed. He did remember something about getting his grades up or he'd lose his place at Prestige, but that had been a year before. He'd completely forgotten about it.

"But that'll ruin my summer! Not to mention I won't have time to practice…"

"They said it won't match your practice hours." His mother assured him, yet Percy could not help but notice her lack of references to his summer.

"Great." He said, upset. "How am I supposed to get a B in French?"

* * *

That was a question that followed Percy to the next day when he walked into the school gym. He forgot all about it, though as he found that the place was not as empty as he was expecting it be. No one – _no one_ – ever made it to practice before him. That's why he was captain, after all.

But there she was, serving volleyball after volleyball over the net much like he would. Except, she was a lot better. With her blonde ponytail and her new uniform, Annabeth threw curved and straight balls at every corner of the court with such accuracy that it made Percy shiver.

"Didn't expect to see you here so early." Percy spoke up, just as grumpily has he had said goodnight to her the day before. He still couldn't quite place why, but he was sure Annabeth wasn't a good addition to the team.

"Why, is it so weird someone else enjoys volleyball? Or is it because I'm _a girl_?" Clearly, Annabeth hadn't forgotten about the previous events either, as she smacked the ball across the gym again, but failing the serve to its entirety. That was a first.

"Never mind." Percy said, as he began the first of his ten usual laps. He hadn't meant to dismiss the topic, of course, but seeing Annabeth fail her serve made his stomach twist a little. Was he really being mean? He'd never been one to bully.

Before Percy had the chance to ask her though, Chiron joined them and closed the door to the gym.

"What are you doing?" Percy asked. "What about the others?"

"I told them not to come." Chiron replied, looking straight into Percy's eyes, as to make sure the message was clear. "It's just you and Annabeth today."

"Why?" Percy demanded, in what he knew was an awful habit of his. Maybe he _had_ been developing a bad attitude. And if so, it was about time to put a stop to it.

"Because you're a spiker and she's your setter."

"We have other spikers." Or not.

"I suppose we'll have another captain soon enough as well, if you don't shut your mouth and get your ass on the court." Percy couldn't believe even Chiron was against him on this one. But even annoyed as he was, all his problems, much like his most recent attitude, went away as soon as his fingers touched a volleyball.

* * *

Annabeth knew this practice between her and Percy was a test. Chiron hadn't only put her up to this to show the prodigy spiker just how good she was. No, the coach wanted to see just how far he could push her.

"Too high." Chiron complained about her toss, as opposed to the previous toss, which had been too low. "His jump will be over by the time he reaches that ball."

 _He could jump sooner_ , was what Annabeth wanted to reply. Instead, she nodded and promised to throw it a little lower. Nevertheless, the criticism just kept coming.

"Too slow. If the tempo is wrong…"

"The whole play goes wrong." Annabeth completed, barely able to breathe the words out. By then, she couldn't remember how many tosses she'd done and still, there hadn't been one single ball Chiron had complimented – let alone Percy, who'd been oddly quiet all practice long. She wondered what was up with him.

By the end of practice, though, she ended up not saying anything to him either. They just kept working as part of a whole and pretended not to be mad at one another.

"That's it for today." Chiron called out to them. "Good job you two."

Annabeth thanked him, happy to have a few nice word at last and headed for the girls' dressing rooms. She had not quite closed the door yet, when she heard Chiron speak up.

"Percy, a word?" There was a pause, during which Annabeth assumed Percy approached the coach. "I hear you're repeating French."

Percy took a few minutes to reply and Annabeth took the time to open the door ajar and peak through. Finally, Percy talked:

"They say if I don't get a B I'm out of Prestige." Annabeth clung tighter to the plastic door. Chiron had warned her about keeping he grades up but she had no idea of how up he'd meant.

"Do you have any other C's?" The coach questioned, concerned.

"Algebra." Percy admitted. "But I guess even they don't think I can get a B there."

"And can you get a B in French?"

Percy was quiet again, for even longer than he'd been the first time. When he finally spoke, Annabeth couldn't hear his words, but she saw the look on his face, a look that said it all.

Unless someone helped him get his grades up, Percy was as good as out Prestige and the team.


	4. Helping Hands

Annabeth tossed and turned in her bed as she thought of the words she'd overheard earlier that day. She and Percy hadn't gone off to the best of starts – actually, the beginning of their relationship couldn't have been worse – but she could tell a good player when she saw one. And Percy – he was a great player. So good, in fact, that he kept Annabeth awake all night wondering if she was really about to let him slip between her fingers before she could prove to him just how much she was needed on _his_ team.

Being Annabeth who she was, the answer seemed obvious.

* * *

"Well someone's up early," Thalia teased her, passing her a mug filled with coffee. Annabeth was quite thankful for it (Aside from everything else, like Thalia giving her a roof and a fridge, oh and hot water. The gods knew how often she'd taken cold showers back in Boston). "Fell off the bed, did ya?"

Annabeth hadn't fallen of the bed, of course, but her best friend was still right. Thalia knew Annabeth was _not_ a morning a person and that usually she'd prefer to stay up later at night than to get on her feet earlier in the morning. Much like an owl, Thalia would often claim.

"Want to go with me for a run?"

"Can't. I have to go." Annabeth declined, finishing her coffee as quick as she could and stopping only to kiss Thalia's forehead. "I'm late for something."

Not that farther away, someone struggled with the same problem.

"Percy…" The voice shook him awake. "Percy!"

The sleepy boy opened his eyes to a curtain of long red hair. His girlfriend Rachel was standing in his bedroom, wearing a green summer dress that made him jump from the chair he'd fallen asleep on. He'd completely forgotten to tell her about his French classes, and Rachel had obviously made plans. Plans that included him.

"Damn," He cursed, running for the bathroom so, at least, they could have breakfast together. "I'm sorry, I-"

"Don't bother." Rachel said, dryly. "I only came up so you wouldn't miss it. It's past nine-thirty already." Without further words the red head turned and left his room and, minutes later, the house – from up in his bedroom, Percy could hear her unleash her anger on the front door.

For a second, Percy let himself fall on his bed and wonder what on Earth he'd done to provoke the entire female species. He even managed to piss Rachel off – _Rachel_ , whom he never had had a fight with. But then Percy remembered what the girl had said about it being past nine-thirty and he jolted into movement.

It was his first Summer School day and Percy was already running late. Good job, Jackson, he told himself.

* * *

Still, no matter how many times Percy told himself this was his first, and only, screw up, nothing could have prepared him for the challenge that was to come.

He didn't know how, but he recognised that blonde curly hair the moment he stepped through his classroom's door, twenty minutes late. The way she tilted her head slightly to the left already so familiar to him as the way she jumped to set the ball. Everything about her just seemed to be engraved in his mind. And how she now scribbled absentminded in her notebook was no different.

Annabeth was there, taking the same class as he was.

"Mr. Jackson, glad you joined us." Old professor Fox greeted him. "Do you think you'd like to take a seat, or are you just going to stand there for the rest of the summer?"

Well that made it strike two. One more and Percy was out – literally.

Percy shook his head, too tired from the run there to speak, and hurried to seat beside Annabeth. Only too late did Percy notice that Piper was also there, gesturing for him to sit beside her. He muttered a quick apology as he passed by.

"What took you so long?" Annabeth whispered, finally putting her mechanical pencil down.

Percy, who had taken his Setter for someone who'd ace all her classes, was honestly surprised to find Annabeth there. Moreover, he was surprised to see that she hadn't been paying attention to the teacher at all. Instead, she'd been doodling little owls on her notebook.

"I fell asleep." Percy replied, at last. "And what are _you_ doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Annabeth snapped back. "I'm taking French."

"Well you don't look very interested." He gestured for all the freaky birds.

Much to Percy's astonishment, Annabeth's cheeks turned pink and she closed her notebook in a hurry, as if she'd been caught in a lie. He wondered what she was up to this time, if not only to provoke him even further.

"Fine." She conceded. "That's not why I'm here. I got an A in French."

Despite her guilty look and Percy's cocked eyebrow, Annabeth didn't develop any further. _Now_ Percy was sure she was up to something. And it wasn't good.

But strike three found him before the boy could give legs to his curiosity.

"If you two have something you'd like to discuss, you can do it outside. And," the professor added when Percy opened his mouth. "It's not an option Mr. Jackson."

Without either of them noticing, Professor Fox had sneaked behind them and obviously noticed neither of them had a single book opened. So much for not screwing up any further.

Resigned, both Percy and Annabeth stood up and left the class.

* * *

"Well?"

Annabeth had tried to make a run for it when the Professor had kicked them out, but, upset as he usually was, Percy had grabbed her arm before she was far enough.

"Well what?" She snapped, not for the first time. Annabeth had been incredibly nervous since she'd first noticed Percy's absence in class. She kept wondering if him being late was a sign from the Gods, telling her whether Percy stayed on Prestige or not was none of her business. Still, she couldn't shake off the feeling that not only it was her business, as it was her _duty_ to help.

" _Well_ , why were you there, if not for the class?"

Percy hadn't let go of her arm yet and Annabeth struggled to set it free, as she tried to think up a decent excuse. Even if she did think it was up to her to help Percy out, she was right when she thought Percy wouldn't want her to. Hell, he'd do everything to keep her away from him. But in the end, Annabeth's usually efficient brain came up blank.

"You're the best Spiker I've ever seen." She finally muttered, her arm still in Percy's grip. If she could not lie, Annabeth would at least try to work her way around the truth. "And as a Setter, I can't let you leave the team."

At last, Percy let go of her and leaned against the wall. His sea green eyes closed so that Annabeth could not guess what he was thinking about. Later, she'd wish she'd been able to, so at least, she'd have been prepared for what would follow.

"You've been snooping?!" Percy's words started out really low, but then, it all turned into screams as he opened his eyes and threw himself at her again, pinning her against to of the marble columns. "Haven't you?!"

Annabeth didn't say a word, but she did shake her head briefly, scared of what he might do if she admitted to it.

"Liar!" Percy shouted again. "You're trying to steal my place on the team! You were given the chance to play with the boys, and now you want it all, right? You want to take everything away from me…"

Just like it had started Percy's willingness to fight faded. He let himself fall onto the floor and pulled his knees up to his chin. After a few seconds, when Annabeth finally found the strength to pull herself away from where he'd left her, she could hear Percy sobbing.

Feeling she'd done enough damage already, Annabeth turned away and left him with his thoughts. Had she really been wrong about wanting to help him? Were they really meant to fight until Percy eventually left?

Annabeth had no answers to those questions and, unfortunately, she didn't think she'd find them in a book. But one thing she knew for sure: she hadn't met the real Percy yet.

And she was set on getting through to him.

* * *

Annabeth wasn't wrong. The real Percy hadn't been seeing daylight the past few days, but salvation was only a few minutes away – thankfully, _after_ Percy had stopped crying.

"Well you look like shit." The tanned, brunette girl made no big deal out of Percy's misery. She'd seen him go through worse days. Instead, Piper sat down beside him and handed him one of the Mars chocolate bars she'd most likely forced out of the candy machine.

"Wondered when you'd show up?" Beside him, Percy heard her smile. "What'd you do to get out?"

"Bathroom." Piper replied, happily. "Female perks."

"And are you going to be in the bathroom for the rest of class?"

"Worry not." The girl assured him dramatically. "He won't miss me. I think the old Fox has hated me ever since I made that drawing of him on fifth grade."

"Oh yeah," Percy remembered. "You gave him a fox tail and all."

The two friends laughed quietly for a while, cherishing the memories they had made together, before Piper finally spoke what she'd really come there for.

"So what's up with you?" She asked, her voice no longer playful.

Percy quieted down too and rested his chin on his knees.

"Everything seems to be falling apart." Percy told his friend everything about the letter he'd got and how he'd end up repeating French. He did, however, left out his girl problems - both with Rachel _and_ Annabeth. Gods, he couldn't even believe he was having girl problems with Annabeth.

"Yeah, they gave me an ultimatum too," Piper confessed, which took Percy's mind of the blonde girl. This was the first he'd heard about it. "They can't kick me out, o'course, because my dad's paying tuition. But they said if I keep on failing classes I'd lose my right to play for the team."

"How'd you even fail French, anyway?" Percy wondered. "You were practically born in France." Which was truth. Piper had moved there with her father the day after she was born. They lived there for seven years – about how long it took him to get over his obsession with French cinema.

"Apparently you cannot skip classes and claim you already know the whole deal." Piper laughed. "It's bullshit if you want to know what I think."

"I don't." Percy replied quickly. He knew if he didn't Piper would just venture for hours about how much she hated their school system. Fortunately, he got away with only a friendly punch to his arm.

"Then there's something _I_ want to know." Piper's tone became more and more serious as the morning went on and Percy could tell he was not going to like where the conversation was heading.

"What is it?" He asked.

"What does that blonde girl have to do with all this?" Her eyes were clear – do I need to do anything about it?

* * *

Annabeth was not surprised when she found out Percy was skipping practice, but she could tell Chiron was not pleased. Nevertheless, Percy's absence gave her just the chance she needed to get to know the rest of the team – without him constantly trying to make her look bad.

The girl happily discovered they were all different and interesting on their own, but were even more amazing when they worked together.

Nico was probably the first to catch her eye though. He was a pale, scrawny freshman that looked rather uncomfortable in his red uniform, as though he couldn't wait to jump out of it. But it was his skills that Annabeth admired the most.

On the back of his shirt, instead of his name, Nico had written Ghost and that's what everyone called him – the Ghost Spiker.

"Just set the ball to where there's no block." Leo had instructed her. "Even if it looks like no one's going to make it there and spike, Nico will. You can say he's our backup plan in desperate times."

And so it was. When they divided into groups and played four on four, Annabeth had desperately tossed the ball into the air where there was no block, knowing that's what she was supposed to do when the opposing team had seen through their play. But too late did she notice her assigned lead spiker, Will, had ran off the other way. Still, as if by miracle, a thin, bony hand crashed into the volleyball and it was sent straight down, winning them the last point of the day.

But Nico wasn't the only extraordinary person there. The other first line members were just as fun to meet.

There was Leo, the libero who protected their backs. Travis and Connor, two siblings, were their middle blockers. They were tall and could really trick you into thinking you had the advantage. Chris, also a middle blocker, didn't talk much, but his strong build up made him perfect for over the net fights. And lastly there was Will Solace.

Will had a different aura about him and Leo called him their lucky charm. Annabeth didn't see in him any particular abilities but she knew that, in time, he'd show her why exactly he had made it to first line.

"Alright, everyone." Chiron called out. "That's it for today. Solace, will you give me a hand with the nets?"

Annabeth offered to help out too but Will waved her off, claiming she'd done a lot more than he had.

"You head home, instead." He said, smiling brightly and openly. "We'll need you pumped up tomorrow."

* * *

In the end, Annabeth was glad Will had told her off. As soon as she landed in her bed, the blonde fell asleep. After a night without sleeping, Annabeth thought the rest was well deserved.

Which is also why she cursed even louder than Thalia when the doorbell rang at 2.46 in the morning.

"I'll go, I'll go." Annabeth mumbled to Thalia, as she lazily put some shorts on. Whoever was outside, there was no ending to what she was going to say to them.

"Just tell them off." Thalia responded from her bedroom. "We'll kill them tomorrow."

Annabeth smiled right before she opened the door – she'd missed her best friend's mood. But the smile on her face dissolved as soon as Annabeth realised who was waiting in the hallway.

"Percy?!"


End file.
